Nico Rosberg believes Lewis Hamilton could cause Max Verstappen to retire from F1 if he is able to launch another championship bid.
Hamilton and Verstappen battled each other in one of the sport's greatest ever title races in 2021, with the Dutchman winning the final race in Abu Dhabi in infamous fashion. Since then Hamilton and his Mercedes team have endured a downturn in performance.
Verstappen and Red Bull meanwhile have charged ahead of their rivals and are now F1's dominant team, winning all seven races so far this year. But while he is in command of this year's championship fight, which would be his third successive title, Verstappen is not happy.
The Red Bull star has dropped frequent hints this season that he is considering retiring from the sport at the end of his contract. And Rosberg believes the scars of his title win over Hamilton are playing a part in those thoughts.
“That talk from him [possibly retiring] started in the year when he battled Hamilton. Where he said ‘I won’t go on for very long if every year is like that’. Those battles are so fierce and intense, it takes a lot of the fun away as well,” Rosberg told Sky F1
“The sport will always be an intense environment, especially when you are fighting for championships every year. You are the guy who has it all to lose. Every expectation is you are going to win over and over, it’s quite demanding.
“I can’t put myself in his shoes. Money-wise he’s done, he has so much he won’t have to work again or worry again. Record-wise he’s already one of the best of all time by the end of this year.”
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While Rosberg highlighted Hamilton's influence as a factor in Verstappen's thinking, the Red Bull star has made it clear his hints at retirement are due to his unhappiness at the direction F1's bosses are taking the sport in.
Verstappen has been a vocal critic at the move to introduce more sprint races and has also lambasted F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali after the Italian suggested that the number of races on the calendar could be increased to as many as 30.
"I always said that even if there won’t be any more sprint races, if we keep expanding the calendar and the whole weekend is that long, at one point you question yourself: is it worth it?" Verstappen said in March.
"I do like racing. I do like winning. I know that, of course, there is the salary and everything, and you have a good life. But is it actually a good life? I think sometimes you get to a point in your career where maybe you want to do other stuff.
“I have the contract until the end of 2028 and then we’ll review again, but I do feel that if it’s getting at one point too much, then it’s time for a change. I am not a fan of it at all. When we do all that kind of stuff, the weekend becomes very intense.
We already do a lot of races. We are heading into seasons where we could have 24 or 25 races and if you then start adding more it is not worth it for me. I will not enjoy that."
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